60% of citizens of EU countries that have not adopted the euro support making it their currency

The European Commission has published its annual “Flash Eurobarometer” on the introduction of the euro in member countries which have not yet adopted the common currency.

The Eurobarometer is a summary of public opinion polls carried out regularly on behalf of the EU institutions. The survey was conducted between 20 and 29 April 2022 in countries that have not yet introduced the euro as a currency, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

In a statement released on Friday, June 10, the European Commission also said that the survey shows broad support for the euro among citizens of these countries, revealing that on average 60% of respondents said they were in favor of the introduction of the common currency.

In addition, the countries with the most favorable adoption opinions are Romania with 77% favorable and Hungary with 69%. On the other hand, the least favorable came from Bulgaria and the Czech Republic with 44% in both cases and from Sweden with 45%.

“More than half of respondents believe that the introduction of the single currency would have positive consequences for their country (55%)”, read the statement.

According to the European Commission, around 56% of people who took part in the survey believe that the introduction of the euro will lead to higher prices.

“Furthermore, the results of the survey show that the citizens of the Member States which do not yet belong to the euro zone are more aware of this subject than before: 53% of those questioned consider themselves to be informed about the euro , compared to 51% last year and 44% in 2015”, the statement also explains.

On June 6, the Commission concluded that Croatia is ready to make the euro its currency, becoming the 20th EU country to join the euro zone from next year, January 1, 2023. .

The Commission also added that only Croatia fulfills all the criteria to be part of the zone out of the other eight EU members that are not. It also notes that all the remaining Member States fulfill the public finance criteria, with the exception of Romania, which is now subject to an excessive deficit procedure.

In this regard, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that joining the Eurozone will strengthen the Croatian economy and bring benefits to Croatian citizens, businesses and society.

Meanwhile, EU Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, Valdis Dombrovskis, hailed Croatia for its commitment, diligence and perseverance in trying to meet the conditions for adopting the euro. .

He also underlined that the adoption of the euro is the last step towards Croatia’s fully integrated EU membership.